The Tragic Art of Alchemy
by AngelFallenFromTheObservatory
Summary: Ryou Bakura misses his sister Amane with all his heart and he grieves for her all the time. After a weekly visit to her grave, Marik Ishtar walks him home in hopes of rising his spirits. When Ryou watches Fullmetal Alchemist with Yami Bakura, Bakura jokes about bringing her back to life with alchemy. But Ryou is in no mood to take him lightly, or his joke, either...
1. Chapter 1

Ryou Bakura always visits his dead little sister, Amane, in the Domino City Cemetery. His freedom from Yami Bakura had reminded him of his sister and he felt nothing but sorrow for weeks. Ex-hikari Marik Ishtar finds him crying at Amane's grave, as always. In attempts to cheer him up, he walks him home. When he gets home, Ryou is met with Bakura's nasty demeanor, Not in the mood to fight or put up with his jerky roommate, he turns on the TV and finds Fullmetal Alchemist. In Bakura's bad joke to bring Amane back to life with using the art of alchemy. Though the arrogant Bakura meant it as only a harmless joke, the depressed ex-hikari was too pained to take things lightly, and starts thinking about the idea of alchemy...

Chapter 1: A Bad Joke Gone Wrong

Ryou sighed and knelt down on the patted-down patch of dirt of a grave. He closed his eyes. In his hand, he held a bundle of crimson roses with grassy green stems. And of course, those stems were very prickly, for he had no time to take the thorns off. Or rather, he didn't WANT them off. He let the thorns pierce his fragile skin and let the blood run. He was a sad child, and he found himself crying a lot. Though he attempts to cover his sorrow with a forced smile, the true him is found at the Domino City Cemetery, weeping his poor heart out.

He laid his bundle of roses, with bloody tips on the thorns with blood that matched the color of the petals, down on the dirt and he used the back of his hand to rub the dirt off of the name on the gravestone: Amane Lilith Bakura. His baby sister, Amane, who would be now fifteen today, was buried five feet underneath the dirt. He and she were very close as children. He remembered when they came to this graveyard a few years before the horrible accident that took Ryou's family away.

He was dressed in a very small black tuxedo and his father always seemed to have to fix Ryou's little tie. He remembered how pretty Amane looked, with a white headband sporting a black velvet bloomed rose in her hair, and how her black poofy dress flowed to underneath her knees, which made her white mary janes show brilliantly in the grass, and how that white silk wrapped around her belly made her look even more like a twig, a pretty adorable twig.

They were visiting their dead grandpa, who had died from a heart attack the previous year. Amane held her big brother's hand with her left hand and held a silky tissue in her other. The graveyard always made her and Ryou weep like babies, but of course, five-year-olds and seven-year-olds were supposed to cry on times like these. Their parents wrapped their huge arms around their tiny bodies, trying to comfort their little angels.

"Deaths happen, darlings, it's a part of life," their mother explained.

"Why?" Amane asked, sniffling. She used her tissue to wipe her eyes. Ryou used his sleeve, like a young boy of his age would, not thinking about the damage to his suit.

"Everyone has to die at some point, Amane," Ryou said, a teardrop running down his cheek. His father wiped it away for him.

"That's right. And if you're really good on earth, you get to go to a special place where the angels fly high above the clouds. That's where Grandpa is right now. He's looking down at us right now, and I don't think he would be real happy to see his precious grandchildren still crying over his dead body. Let's dry those awful tears and get going home." Ryou held his mother's hand, being a mommy's boy, and Amane hugged her daddy's arm, taking the role of the daddy's girl.

"Hey, Ryou!" she said to Ryou. He looked at her. She was smiling so sweetly and adorably, like the kind little sister he knew her to be.

"When I die, I want people to put flowers on my grave! Not just any flowers, though. I want pretty roses! They're so prettyful and not sad. They would make the graveyard not so scary and sad." She giggled and that made Ryou smile.

Ryou wiped away another tear off his cheek. He was now back in the present, the gloomy present.

"I got you some roses, like always. But you know I didn't take off the thorns. You know that I won't ever take them off. I know you wanted roses, so, you know... I got the freshest one's I could get from Mai's. So, uh, I hope you like them. I have to go home now, but I promise I'll come back next week." He got up and stretched.

"There you are, kid!" a familiar called from behind him. He turned around and found an old friend walking towards him. His premium golden blond hair bounced with every step. His violet eyes mirrored Ryou's reflection as he came closer. His Egyptian tan was a brilliant bronze.

"Marik? What are you doing here?" Ryou asked the ex-hikari. Marik kind of smiled, kind of not. More of a sly smirk than a smile, really. He was still kind of used to being the villain in season two, and he hasn't outgrown all of the habits, like smirking instead of smiling.

"You come here every week. Same time, same day, same grave, same roses." He looked at Ryou's hand, eyeing the fresh wounds the thorns had given him. He sighed and shook his hair, his hair bouncing and hitting his face. "And same wounds. You are very predictable, Ryou. You go through a normal routine, and I learned to bring this." He grabbed his hand and pulled a roll of bandages from his coat pocket. He wrapped it around the wounds and brought it towards his wrist, and that's when Ryou pulled back. He was shaking a little.

"Th-That's enough, you covered the wounds enough, thank you, Marik," he said, politely, but suspiciously. Marik narrowed his eyes and rose an eyebrow, looking at Ryou's nervous face. He held out his hand.

"Give me your wrist."

"N-No, thank you."

"Ryou, show me your wrist."

"P-Please, don't make me!" Ryou was really desperate to keep his wrist hidden.

"Show it to me!"

"NO!" Marik sighed and surprised him by suddenly pouncing and tackling Ryou onto the ground. He forced him onto his back and sat on his chest. Ryou tried to move his arm away, but Marik grabbed it and pulled down Ryou's sleeve. What he found had made his heart ache.

"...Why, Ryou? Why did you do this? Why did you cut yourself?" Ryou finally threw Marik off and got to his feet. Marik had expected him to run away, but he stayed, about to give into tears.

"...I wish Amane hadn't died. I wish my parents hadn't given their lives to protect us, and I really wish their lives didn't go to waste in their attempt to save Amane's life. And I wish with all I have that I wasn't the only survivor, or even the survivor at all. I wish I died along with the rest of my family-"

"Don't say that! She might be frowning upon you from the grave for wishing that! You need to fulfill your mission on earth before joining Amane, and she would be scolding you big time for this!" He pointed at Ryou's emote scars. "No more of this, Ryou! It's late out and you need to get home. I'm not saying I don't trust you, but I'm taking you home myself." Marik walked out of the graveyard with Ryou in tow. He followed Marik to his big house on the big hillskirts of town. It was a huge ramshackle mansion with black iron gates surrounding the hill. Before the rest of the family died that horrid night, Ryou was a wealthy, happy child. Now he was a wealthy, depressed child. Marik pushed open the gates and followed him to the door. He pat his shoulder reassuringly.

"If you need anything, just give me a holler and I'll be there for you. Good night."

"Yeah... good night..." Ryou watched Marik close the gates behind him and he went inside his giant dark manor. Inside the giant house was practically nothing except the finest of the finest of furniture and interiors of the wealthy. Inside the entertainment room, Yami Bakura sprawled lazily upon the couch that lay in front of the television. Apparently, it was turned to Fullmetal Alchemist, the anime that Ryou enjoyed watching, but Bakura was neutral about. Which was weird that he was watching it.

"Did you tell your dead sister I said hi?" he yawned, a sign of a cruel tone to his voice. That was typical Bakura for you.

"No, I did not. Why are you watching Fullmetal?" Bakura shrugged.

"It was either this or watch the card games channel. And nobody wants to watch that." Ryou kicked his feet off the coffee table and sat down on the couch. This was the episode where Scar and Ed first meet, which led to Ed and Al running away and to Scar chasing them.

"Why can't Al do something help Ed out? Like bash Scar's brains out with his armor or something?" Bakura asked dimwittedly, but sincere. That sounded like a question that Marik would've asked him all the way back to season two.

"For one, he's hollow, because he's only attached to the armor with the blood binding in his armor that Ed made for him. For two, he's probably just as terrified as Ed to do anything but run-not an emotion you would feel. And for three, he's probably got a cat or two in there." That sounded like an answer that Bakura's would've snapped at Marik back then. Ryou wasn't in the mood to be polite, seeing as he wasn't around Yugi or his group of friends, or around his own from Marik. Bakura knows what he's like at home. His polite little personality isn't really an act, but it hurts him a lot to live in this house, an ugly scar from his horrid past. It was his hurt side that was showing this moment. Bakura only looked at Ryou and flicked his tiny nose. Ryou ignored him. Bakura got up and walked out of the room, stretching. This night, he was strangely behaving himself. Must've broken another glass or plate.

"Hey, have you ever considered that there's a way you could bring her back?"

"Who, Amane? You know a way to bring her back? How?" Ryou was on the edge of the couch with eager eyes. Bakura smirked nastily.

"You could bring her back... using alchemy!" Bakura laughed all the way to his bedroom, where he slammed the door closed. Ryou fell to his knees and tried to fight the tears that were threatening to come. Bakura had an awful and cold sense of humor. And to go so low as to attack his ex-hikari at his weakest was just so horrible, even for him. A tear or two escaped, but Ryou held the rest in. He looked at the TV and thought about Bakura's dry joke.

You could bring her back... using alchemy! Using Alchemy... Alchemy... Ryou turned off the TV and headed upstairs to clean up a certain bedroom. Amane's bedroom.


	2. Chapter 2

Now Ryou has taken a liking to the idea of performing alchemy to reuniting himself with his deceased sister, Amane. But can it actually happen? And if so, has he taken the whole idea to heart? Has he considered the possibilities of any going wrong?

Chapter Two: A Heart-Aching Fool

Ryou dusted away the last cobweb from the corner of the room. Now, Amane's room was restored to its former glory. Ryou had changed the bedsheets and dusted every piece of furniture and changed the lights in the room. He hurried down to the dryer and pulled out Amane's old clothes. If she was coming back to the world of the living, she might start back at her old age, you never know. And because of that idea, he was also drying her old teddy bear. When he placed them in the basket and went back upstairs to take care of them some more, he met a very tired Bakura at the top of the stairs. He was rubbing his eye and covered a yawn with his hand. When Bakura was exhausted, he appeared to be very childish, not like the spoiled little brat he was usually, but like a sleepy toddler. And when his eyes fluttered, he was at his least jerkiness. He wasn't nice and smiley, per sa, but at least he wasn't being an ass.

"What are you doing up, Bakura? I thought you went to bed," Ryou asked.

"I heard noises upstairs and it woke me up. What are you doing up? What were you doing in Amane's... oh. No, no, Ryou, no!" Bakura slapped his face with his palm and looked at Ryou with a sorry look. "Did you take me seriously earlier? Oh, Ryou... Follow me, Hikari." Bakura beckoned him into the entertainment room. Ryou put the laundry basket down and sat next to Bakura.

"Listen, that whole 'Amane-alchemy' thing... it-it was just a joke. A bad one at that. And I'm... uh, well, you know. Don't take me seriously on the joke. I mean it." Ryou shook his head.

"No, it was a great idea! The millenium items have disappeared [or as far as I'm aware of, anybody, feel free to correct me!] and I can't use them. But alchemy, now that's different! All I have to do is get the ingredients for one eight-year-old girl and-"

"Ryou! Enough!" Bakura grabbed his hikari's shoulders and shook him. "That's crazy. Alchemy doesn't work like that, Hikari! Fullmetal Alchemist is JUST an anime! Just. An. Anime. Nobody can bring someone back to life!"

"I could if I tried-"

"No, Ryou! No you can't! Just... just forget about it, okay?" Ryou frowned.

"You don't know how it feels to finally be able to bring back your family that was stolen from you! You should try alchemy, too-"

"Enough of that! There's a reason why you survived and Amane and your parents didn't!"

"And what reason would that be, eh, Bakura?" Ryou asked in a snappy tone.

"I don't know, you have to figure that out for yourself! I'm still trying to figure out why I was the only one who survived and was the spirit of the Millenium Ring!" He got up.

"Where are you going, Bakura?" Ryou asked, standing up, too.

"Going back to bed!" Bakura left the room, but came back a second later. "...Hikari, honestly. The thought of alchemy is ridiculous. Forget about what I said earlier this afternoon. Good night, Ryou." Bakura disappeared for his room.

"...Good night." Ryou picked up the laundry basket and went up to Amane's room. Completely disregarding Bakura's advice to forget about alchemy, he folded her clothes and set her bed with freshly cleaned sheets and placed her teddy bear on her bed. He went to the door and turned around. Her bedroom looked exactly like how he remembered it all those years ago. He smiled, turned off the light, shut the door, and went to bed, himself.

~Okay, apparently every person who writes a fanfiction here has to do a disclaimer. Obviously, I don't own neither Fullmetal Alchemist nor Yu-Gi-Oh! But, if I did own Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yugi wouldn't get any screen time, and neither would Rex, Weevil, Tristain, Tea, Mai, or any other ugly-ass characters. Bakura and Ryou and Marik would get a hell lot of screen time, Thiefshipping wouldn't only be a fangirl's dream, and they wouldn't die in the end. Only Yugi. And Seto and Mokuba would be in there, too, quite a lot. Because Seto is all bad-ass, and Mokuba is soooooo CUUUUUUUUUUTE! X3 And so is Ryou! X3 And the whole plot wouldn't be about a stupid children's card game! Andi f I owned Fullmetal Alchemist, Scar would have a real name, Oliver Armstrong wouldn't be so much of a bitch, and I would make Ed even shorter! IDK why, but I just would... I don't own either anime, and that's probably a good thing...~


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Fullmetal Alchemist.

Chapter Three:

Bakura saw Ryou sliding on a jacket and heading out the door quickly. He was about to question it, but decided it was best that he left Ryou alone. He walked towards the coffee table and saw a piece of note paper lying face down. He picked it up and read it. His eyes widened as he read more and more of the note. He looked out of the window and saw that Ryou held a shovel over his shoulder and a paper bag in his hand... Bakura grabbed the phone and got really impatient when it took forever for the reciever to pick up the phone.

"Hello?" Marik's voice answered from the other side.

"Marik! Stop Ryou from going to the cemetery!"

"What? Why?" Marik's voice was very chillax. He obviously didn't know what was going on.

"You watch Fullmetal Alchemist, right?"

"Yeah? So?"

"Ryou wants to perform alchemy to bring Amane back!"

"He's not really thinking of doing that, Bakura!"

"He's not, huh? Then why do I have a note paper in my hand, written in his handwriting, with all the ingredients that he needs to bring back an 8-year-old girl and a shovel over his shoulder?" Marik was quiet for a minute.

"Get in your car. I'll meet up with you in the back roads near the cemetery. We don't want Ryou to see us right away. And besides, I know the effects of performing alchemy to bring back a life. We have to go to an old city, though."

"What city?"

"Risembool."

* * *

A young man with golden eyes was beating nails into a roof. His golden hair was done in a long braid down his back. He wiped sweat off his brow with his right arm, remembering a time when it was all metal. He looked down at the roof. If he still had alchemy, this roof would've been finished in a heart beat. But, of course, hard labor built good character. He looked around his town. All was as it should be, peaceful and serene. He pounded another nail into the roof when he saw smoke forming on the horizon. It got closer and closer, and then he could see the silhouette of a car and motorbike. They stopped as soon as they got into town and someone got out of the car.

His silvery-white hair was very long, past his hips and more. It had little... lack of better words... bat wings at the top of his head and it fell into... lack of better words, again... spikes. His skin was a snowy white and his eyes were a bloody chocolate. He wasn't all that buff, that was certain, but he had enough mean flair and a big attitude about him to pull off the muscle shirt look, which was a good thing, because he was wearing a midnight red one with ripped blue jeans that have seen better days. There was a silver chain running through some belt straps.

The other person with him didn't take off his helmet, but shifted his shades, revealing his lavender eyes. The tips of his platinum blond hair played peek-a-boo with the helmet as they walked towards the house. His leather jacket was halfway zipped, as if he was in a hurry. A white tank top was shown in the opening of his jacket. His black jeans had a few tears here and there, but as he got closer, the color turned out to be more of a really dark indigo. His bronze skin made his lavender eyes pop out and made a nice contrast his platinum blond hair.

"Who are you two?" the young man asked, sliding down the ladder and walked towards the visitors. One of his footsteps were heavier than the other, as if it were made of metal.

"Are you Edward Elric?" the biker asked. The young man nodded, confirming his identity.

"Yeah, but that wasn't what I asked you, and I don't like being answered by questions to my questions. Again, who are you two?" Edward asked.

"Marik, and he's Bakura," Marik nodded to Bakura.

"Enough of the formalities, Marik! We don't have time to introduce ourselves, honestly! Ryou could be at the cemtery right now, digging up Amane!"

"What do you mean 'enough of the formalities'?! I just said our names, how is that being friggin' formal?!"

"What's going on?" Edward asked.

"Bakura will fill you in! We need to get going, like, now!" Marik slid his shades back into place and Edward and Bakura ran to the car. They left Risembool in the dust.

* * *

"You really did perform alchemy to bring back your mother, right?" Bakura asked. Edward nodded.

"I don't want to remember it..." he said softly.

"I'm... you know... serry."

"What?"

"I'm... starry."

"Are you trying to say that you're sorry?"

"Yes, but I can't say that word."

"What word?"

"...Sorty."

"Oh. It's okay... I guess..." Bakura awkwardly patted Edward's head. Edward slowly grabbed Bakura's hand and removed it from his head.

"Don't try to make me feel better. It was years and years ago when it happened, so it's way too late to cheer me up. And too weird, too. You're not used to it, so don't bother, okay?" Bakura took his hand back, relieved.

"So, what is this Ryou kid up to?" Edward asked.

"He watches your anime and I was being a jerk to him and... He came home after visiting his little sister's grave, Amane, and he watched your anime for a while, and I was an ass, as usual, and I taunted him with the idea of using alchemy to bring her back! I feel so... weird, like I'm sick, but perfectly healthy and stuff-"

"You're feeling guilty, Bakura," Edward said. "You didn't think he'd take you seriously, but he did?" Bakura nodded.

"He even cleaned out the cobwebs from her bedroom and washed all of her clothes, her sheets, and even her teddy bear!"

"Does he even remember what happened to me and Al when that happened to us?" Edward asked.

"Al? Oh, you mean that robot-"

"He wasn't a robot, he was a soul bound to a suit of armor," Edward corrected him stiffly, as if he had to correct so many people in the past about that.

"I don't think he cares about consequences about it!

"I'm sure he'd regret it when he meets The Truth! Step on it, Bakura! Who knows what The Truth will take from him! It took my leg for my mother and took my arm for Al! Al's entire body was taken from him for our mother! Our teacher's organs was taken from her for her baby! And it took away Colonel Mustang's sight for Hawkeye! It might even take Ryou's LIFE for Amane!" When he heard that, Bakura slammed his foot into the gas pedal and he forced Marik to speed up, too, after he got way ahead of him.

* * *

I'm worried that The Truth might away something really important from Ryou! Like his fluffy hair! Or his cute little British accent! Or his adorableness! Does Ed realilze that his fluffy hair, British accent, and adorableness are the more important things here? If The Truth takes one of those things from him, he won't be the same sweet little Hikari we all know and love! T-T

Anyways, sorry about the short previous chapter. And about that awkward ending. And this awkward ending... Ryou! X3

Yeah, I suck at reviews. :( But at least I found out how to fix this chappie! Bakura is not Akefia in here... No, AFFTO, no! No! Don't do that again! *Flicks nose*

Now, before I send myself into the corner, I would like you guys to review this chappie, all the other chappies, and my new book! Bakura and Marik Go Camping! Self-explanatory title. I should do a puppyshipping book, Seto and Jounochi deserve a shine in the spotlight! ~ 3

*Heads to corner while thinking about how amazing it would be if some reviews came in*


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